So Now What?

Rhys Hoskins is done for the year and the Phillies need to find a way to fill the offensive void he leaves if there's any hope of saving the season (Arrested Development Narrator: "There isn't").

Here are the options:

Brad Miller–Bamboo Brad has 5 hits in last 42 at-bats with 16 strikeouts, including three last night, the last of which ended the game where the Phils had pulled to within a run. Brad had a nice little homer run earlier this summer, but I'm over him.

Alec Bohm–The second-year player was sent to Triple A after his troubles in the field followed him to the plate. Bohm is 2 for 14 since his demotion. Pass.

Didi Gregorius–Didi had 2 hits and 2 RBIs last night, which qualifies him as red hot, given the ineptitude of this offense, He has played defense in 971 MLB games, all but 11 of them at shortstop. He's never played first. Is it worth a shot? It could work. Maybe. Move Didi to first and let Freddie Galvis play short. It makes the defense on the left side that much better. 

T.J. Rivera–Who? He's playing first for the Iron Pigs in Triple A. He's a career .316 hitter in the minors with an OPS of .792. He has 319 MLB at-bats with a .304 average and .780 OPS. He's also 32 years old and not on the 40-man roster, so other moves would have to be me.

Matt Joyce–Remember him? He was a free agent outfielder signed over the winter and adjust 5 hits in 50 at-bats before going on the 60-day injured list. He's still there. He'll probably stay there, unless he's released to make room for Rivera.

Platoon JT Realmuto and Andrew Knapp between catcher and first, and call up Rafael Marchan to fill Hoskins' spot on the roster. Maybe regular at-bats will help Knapp's offense, and the platoon would give JT and his knees some time off at first. I think this is the best option out of some pretty bad alternatives. 

Rhys Back on the IL

If you watched Rhys Hoskins try to play defense last night, it should come as no surprise that he's been put back on the injured list with groin issues. And that's really bad news for the Phillies.

Without Hoskins in the lineup, the Phillies haven't been able to score runs. I wanted to write "struggled," but what's happened seems a lot worse than a struggle. They enter tonight's game back at .500 and 5 games behind the Braves.

The Braves have had injury issues all season and it hasn't stopped them from playing like a playoff team. They have depth in the minor leagues, which allowed them to make deals when players like All Star Ronald Acuna, Jr. tore up his knee and was lost for the season.

The Phillies don't have that depth. Scoring will continue to be an issue without Hoskins in the lineup, and that puts extra pressure on the pitching staff. And that's never a good thing for an equally fragile group. 

Between last night's tie-breaking 9th inning HR surrendered by Zach Wheeler and today's news of Hoskins being sidelined again, it's hard to feel optimistic about the last 36 games of the season. Baseball-Reference.com gives that Phils a 17.6% chance to make the playoffs. FiveThirtyEight has the Phils at 17% and FanGraphs has them at 19.9%. 

With Hoskins on the injured list from Aug. 6 through Aug. 21, the Phils went 6-8 and scored just 40 runs in those 14 games. It's going to be awfully hard to make the playoffs with production like that. 

Razing by Arizona

Remember when the Phillies won eight straight games? Me either. It seems like a lifetime ago. But it was only two weeks.

They were six games over .500 and led the NL East by 2.5 games. Now, after getting swept by the NL-worst Arizona Diamondbacks, they're 4 games out and in second place. And fading fast. 

And another thing. If you get swept by the worst team in the league, you are now the worst team in the league. They couldn't hit, they couldn't pitch, and they couldn't defend. Now its off to San Diego to play Fernando Tatis Jr. I can't even imagine the damage he's going to do to this pitching staff. 

So first place was fun while it lasted. Is it a coincidence the Phils released next year's spring training schedule this week? Cause it sure seems like "wait til next year" time around here. 

What a Week!

Last Sunday, the Phillies were 4 1/2 games out of the lead in the NL East. Eight wins and two sweeps later, the Phils are atop the division. You couldn't ask for a better week. And sweeping the Mets is especially sweet, no matter the situation. This is the best week of baseball the Phillies have played in 10 years. 

I hate that they're off tomorrow. They'll need the momentum heading into the week when the Dodgers and Reds visit CBP. Aaron Nola faces Max Scherzer on Tuesday, and the team needs good Nola to show up and pitch like he's capable of. 

But let's bask in the glow of this winning streak and the renewed interest in baseball in town. There were 100,000 people at CBP this weekend. It felt like 2008-2011 again. 

As for the image above, my niece, a Phillies fan, is engaged to a Mets fan. This is our exchange. Make sure you tell the Mets fan in your life that you're sorry for their losses. With a straight face. 

Harper on Fire

It's about time I showed some love to Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper, who has almost singlehandedly lifted the team into first place in the National League East.

Harper is absolutely smolderingly hot right now. Since July 1, he is hitting an insane .352 with 6 HR and 23 RBI with an OBP of .462 and an OPS at 1.129. Twenty-two of his 38 hits in that time frame are for extra bases and he's reached base in 15 straight games. If he keeps this up, he's going to get mentioned in the NL MVP discussion along with Max Muncy and Fernando Tatis Jr. 

For the season, he's scored 64 runs and has 12 stolen bases and is second in baseball with a .415 OBP. I was never that big on the Phillies signing him to that huge contract. But the last month is making me a believer. 

And a couple of thoughts on Kyle Gibson and Ian Kennedy, the two pitchers acquired from the Rangers for Spencer Howard. Gibson has been great in his two starts as a Phillie. He's 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA with opponents hitting just .196 against him with a paltry .522 OPS against.

Kennedy, on the other hand, might need a short leash from manager Joe Girardi. Kennedy has appeared in four games and allowed three homers in just 3.1 innings of work. His ERA is a ghastly 13.50 since joining the Phillies. I have a feeling Girardi gives him one more shot at closing before turning to Archie Bradley.

Bradley has been spectacular since the beginning of July allowing just one earned run and 12 hits in 15 innings, without giving up a homer. His ERA since then is 0.60. Yup, sounds like closer material to me. 

(Harper photo by Getty Images via The Score)

Big Weekend

This weekend is going to be a pretty big deal in South Philly. The Phillies are the hottest team in MLB, having won five straight and climbing to within a half-game of the first-place Mets.

Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, and JT Realmuto are all hot at the same time. They're a combined 24 for 52 with 4 HR and 18 RBI in the last five games. The defense has been better, and the bullpen hasn't been awful. The Phils have outscored the Pirates and Nationals 43-24 during the winning streak. In their last five games, the Mets have scored just 15 runs. 

Winning at least two of three puts the Phils in first and does wonders for team and fan morale. Anything short of being in first place on Sunday night will be considered a failure. 

The ballpark should be rocking tonight. I'm hoping fans come out and support the team, but attendance has been lagging. The Phils are 18th in MLB in attendance, averaging just a hair more than 16,000 per game. But with the team's recent hot streak, the hated Mets and their equally obnoxious fans in tow, there should easily be more than 35,000 at each game. I want every "lets go Mets" chant drowned out in a cacophony of boos.

It's going to be a playoff atmosphere at CBP. And it's about damn time. 

Hamels Goes Hollywood

Much to my disappointment, Phillies 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels has decided to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. I guess he wants to be with a team with a real shot to win the World Series this year. ESPN reports the Dodgers will pay Hamels $1 million for the rest of the season and $200,000 per start. 

I can't really blame him. The Phils are 1.5 games out of first in a really bad National League East, have Chase Anderson as one of their starting pitchers, and face the first-place Mets this weekend. The so-called experts are not so hot on the Phillies either. Fangraphs.com has the Phillies finishing with 83.5 wins and a 31.6% chance to make the playoffs. Baseball-reference.com gives the Phillies the best shot (36.8%) and 87 wins, while FiveThirtyEight.com gives them 83 wins and a 30% shot at playoff baseball.

At least they've been fun to watch over the last three games, but winning three straight makes almost anything better. 

Weak Links

For a team in need of offense, having scored just two runs off a mighty Pirates pitching staff, you have to wonder why Phillies manager Joe Girardi has both weak links–Didi Gregorius and Odubel Hererra–in the lineup.

Herrera is hitting just .168 in his last 30 games, while Gregorius is 2 for his last 22 and hitting .157 in his last 30 games. There are more productive options available in Luke Williams and Ronald Torreyes. This Phillies offense is in bad shape. The team hasn't held a lead since last Sunday against the Braves (not counting the walkout wins against the Nats).

It's bad enough the Andrew McCutchen and Rhys Hoskins are out of the lineup with injuries. But adding Herrera and Didi makes no sense to me at all. I'm really starting to question Girardi's performance, especially after bringing in Wild Thing Jose Alvarado to pitch the ninth inning of a tie game yesterday. Alvarado blew it because of course he did. 

This team is incredibly frustrating to watch and follow. But now that the trade deadline has passed, this is what we're stuck with, barring waiver claims, minor league call-ups, and free agent signings (looking at you, Cole Hamels). The Phils have blown chance after chance after chance and it's sure looking like the playoff drought is going to continue.